The G.O.P. deserved to lose

Maybe the GOP deserved to lose, but not the nation. I did not know the Robert Bork story that Sowell mentions, however I am not surprised. George W. Bush would do over 20 years later the exact same thing that the GOP Establishment urged Robert Bork in the face of withering, libelous attack, i.e. do nothing.

by Thomas Sowell

The beginning of a new year is often a time to look forward and look back. The way the future looks, I prefer to look back — and depend on my advanced age to spare me from having to deal with too much of the future.

If there are any awards to be given to anyone for what they did in 2012, one of those rewards should be for prophecy, if only because prophecies that turn out to be right are so rare.

With that in mind, my choice for the prediction of the year award goes to Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal for his column of January 24, 2012 titled: “The GOP Deserves to Lose.”

Despite reciting a litany of reasons why President Obama deserved to be booted out of the White House, Stephens said, “Let’s just say right now what voters will be saying in November, once Barack Obama has been re-elected: Republicans deserve to lose.”

To me, the Republican establishment is the 8th wonder of the world. [……..]

Bret Stephens said, back at the beginning of 2012, that Mitt Romney was one of the “hollow men,” and that voters “usually prefer the man who stands for something.”

[…….]He is only the latest in a long series of presidential candidates backed by a Republican establishment that seems convinced that ad hoc “moderation” is where it’s at — no matter how many of their ad hoc moderates get beaten by even vulnerable, unknown or discredited Democrats.

Back in 1948, when the Democratic Party splintered into three parties, each one with its own competing presidential candidate, Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey was considered a shoo-in.

Best-selling author David Halberstam described what happened: “Dewey’s chief campaign tactic was to make no mistakes, to offend no one. His major speeches, wrote the Louisville Courier Journal, could be boiled down ‘to these historic four sentences: Agriculture is important. Our rivers are full of fish. You cannot have freedom without liberty. The future lies ahead…'”

Does this sound like a more recent Republican presidential candidate?

Meanwhile, President Harry Truman was on the attack in 1948, with speeches that had many people saying, “Give ’em hell, Harry.” He won, even with the Democrats’ vote split three ways.

But, to this day, the Republican establishment still goes for pragmatic moderates who feed pablum to the public, instead of treating them like adults.

It is not just Republican presidential candidates who cannot be bothered to articulate a coherent argument, instead of ad hoc talking points.

Have you yet heard House Speaker John Boehner take the time to spell out why Barack Obama’s argument for taxing “millionaires and billionaires” is wrong?

[…….]

What we all should be worried about are high tax rates driving American investments overseas, when there are millions of Americans who could use the jobs that those investments would create at home.

Yet Obama has been allowed to get away with the emotional argument that the rich can easily afford to pay more, as if that is the issue. But it will be the issue if no one says otherwise.

One of the recent sad reminders of the Republicans’ tendency to leave even lies and smears unanswered was a television replay of an old interview with the late Judge Robert Bork, whose nomination to the Supreme Court was destroyed by character assassination.

Judge Bork said that he was advised not to answer Ted Kennedy’s wild accusations because those false accusations would discredit themselves. That supposedly sophisticated advice cost the country one of the great legal minds of our time — and left us with a wavering Anthony Kennedy in his place on the Supreme Court.

Some people may take solace from the fact that there are some articulate Republicans like Marco Rubio who may come forward in 2016. But with Iran going nuclear and North Korea developing missiles that can hit California, it may be too late by then.

Comments

Comments and respectful debate are both welcome and encouraged.

Comments are the sole opinion of the comment writer, just as each thread posted is the sole opinion or post idea of the administrator that posted it or of the readers that have written guest posts for the Blogmocracy.

Obscene, abusive, or annoying remarks may be deleted or moved to spam for admin review, but the fact that particular comments remain on the site in no way constitutes an endorsement of their content by any other commenter or the admins of this Blogmocracy.

We're not easily offended and don't want people to think they have to walk on eggshells around here (like at another place that shall remain nameless) but of course, there is a limit to everything.

It is likely to be a very dark four years. Is it any wonder Obama is persuing gun control? He feels he is immortal, above the mere voters who were, after all, stupid enough to entrust the country to him not once but twice. He feels he can do anything. We’ll see if the Democrats in the Senate feel likewise empowered, or whether he has a tough time with coming upwith 50 Senators who are willing to bet their careers on gun control being more popular than guns at a time when gun sales are setting records.

I honestly don’t think Beohner understands why taxing millionaires is wrong…I’m not sure anyone in the GOP does, except that most of congress are probably millionaires or will be by the time they leave office…they all such equally but for only micro slightly different reasons

@ Iron Fist:
It is likely to be a very dark four years.
I think longer.

keep in mind that shit happens at lightning speed sometimes…it’s easier to appeal to your feelings at the moment, but no one can say for sure…I’d just like to get back to my general contempt rather than this hyper bad attitude I have right now…I have to express my citizenship elsewhere than behind federal skirts, so I do…look out for our brothers and sisters, stay calm and see what shakes out…that’s what I do

We’ll see. The problem with Rubio is that he is on the pulse of the nation on this issue. No, most people don’t want more wars, but most people do believe the “Islam is a Religion of Peace” bullshit. They may not have believed another word that came out of Bush’s mouth, but they so badly want to believe that that they ignore the bloody evidence in front of them. The whole world is like that because they don’t really want to believe that they have to functionally destroy Islam the same way they functionally destroyed Nazism. Now, if we want relative peace in the world, that is exactly what we have to do, but that isn’t a recipe for no war. That is a recipe for expanded war. The American people don’t want to hear that. It is like when Rick Perry called Social Security a Ponzi Scheme. Yes, he was 100% correct, but that cost him the nomination right there. Too many people want to believe in Social Security. Now, the truth is that Social Security is going bankrupt along with the rest of the Entitlement State, but people won’t believe that until it all comes crashing down like the Soviet Union did.

The way the GOP is currently composed, they will not win the Presidency for a long time.

1) They have no strategy to deal with the Media-Entertainment Industrial complex.
2) The GOP is torn between RINO Socialists and has a Purity Inquisition that loves the martyrdom of defeat.
3)The GOP loves Nation Building

Until these 3 issues are resolved, the GOP will not win another Presidential election.

We’ll see. The problem with Rubio is that he is on the pulse of the nation on this issue.

Actually most polls show Americans are against nation building. It’s Republican voters who love nation building.

The whole world is like that because they don’t really want to believe that they have to functionally destroy Islam the same way they functionally destroyed Nazism. Now, if we want relative peace in the world, that is exactly what we have to do, but that isn’t a recipe for no war. That is a recipe for expanded war.

@ heysoos:
The way the GOP is currently composed, they will not win the Presidency for a long time.
1) They have no strategy to deal with the Media-Entertainment Industrial complex.
2) The GOP is torn between RINO Socialists and has a Purity Inquisition that loves the martyrdom of defeat.
3)The GOP loves Nation Building
Until these 3 issues are resolved, the GOP will not win another Presidential election.

agreed, but the GOP will probably have opportunities handed to them by BO himself…like in football, you gotta convert turnovers into points…not much I admit….I say let BO be as rash as he wants, and when he is, knock the shit out of him, every little skirmish

if I were CinC, I’d pull every troop out of the ME…every country, shut down every base and embassy…I’d go on national tv and name every country and tell them don’t call don’t write…then I’d warn all of them, if I have to come back and pay you a visit, it will be with horrendous violence and it will be a fight to the finish this time….then I’d unleash a black ops slaughter like you’ve never seen

if I were CinC, I’d pull every troop out of the ME…every country, shut down every base and embassy…I’d go on national tv and name every country and tell them don’t call don’t write…then I’d warn all of them, if I have to come back and pay you a visit, it will be with horrendous violence and it will be a fight to the finish this time….then I’d unleash a black ops slaughter like you’ve never seen

I’d use the difference in funds to seize our borders and effectively seal them…sorry, can’t get in…then I’d start hunting down the AQ cells that are working here…find them, delete them, no arrest, no Gitmo, no jurisprudence…shut down every mosque, every Islamic center and every Muslim charity…you want results? I’ll get you results

I’d use the difference in funds to seize our borders and effectively seal them…sorry, can’t get in…then I’d start hunting down the AQ cells that are working here…find them, delete them, no arrest, no Gitmo, no jurisprudence…shut down every mosque, every Islamic center and every Muslim charity…you want results? I’ll get you results

heysoos wrote:
I’d use the difference in funds to seize our borders and effectively seal them…sorry, can’t get in…then I’d start hunting down the AQ cells that are working here…find them, delete them, no arrest, no Gitmo, no jurisprudence…shut down every mosque, every Islamic center and every Muslim charity…you want results? I’ll get you results

withdraw from the UN but give them their cool pad on the river, then ignore them completely, but collect rent…they’d fold in a NY second….redesign NATO with our interests at the top of priorities…no agreement? then close up shop

He was still talking about Congress “paying the bills for what it’s already spent,” though. To me, that implies that he just expects Congress to give him what he wants, not that he’s going to attempt some end run that even libs know is unconstitutional.

@ heysoos:
then I’d start hunting down the AQ cells that are working here…find them, delete them, no arrest, no Gitmo, no jurisprudence…
Put a bounty on them.

or certainly reward people that turn…federal agencies kill hundreds of people every year, world wide, that need it…it’s been that way forever….counter terrorism is a dirty, wet business….there is no room for Miranda and that stuff

I don’t think Obama’s next move is going to be guns. It’s going to be the debt ceiling. Didn’t he just say “I’ll negotiate on a lot of things but not on that”?
So what does that mean? I think it means he’s going to try to get rid of it completely or raise it so high it might as well be gone — by executive order — which is completely unconstitutional
If he tries to subvert the constitution and the GOP stands there with its thumb up its ass — ……………

when I run this country, I’m gonna put every congressional session up on live tv…you wanna see how bright your elected whores are, I’ll show you

I’d start by taking control of the cameras CSpan uses to show the House and Senate chambers.
There’s a reason they’re fixed and zoomed in tight on the podium. They don’t want anyone to see that there’s nobody there most of the time. They’re just speaking to an empty room.

heysoos wrote:
my thinking as well…liberals will eventually run out of gas, out of their failure alone….probably not in my lifetime tho
Charles Krauthammer thinks their fall is inevitable because their policies are fiscally unsustainable.

yup…who gets the last flatscreen?…and when the welfare mobs are cut off is when the fun begins

@ Mike C.:
If I had to guess, I’d suspect that they’re going to use Feinstein’s bill as a starting point, and then “compromise” by reinstating what we had from ’94-2004.
It’s not like we actually have an opposition party anymore.

yup…who gets the last flatscreen?…and when the welfare mobs are cut off is when the fun begins

Also the effects of Obamanomics were not felt by enough people. Wait until by 2016 and we have millions of 28 year olds unemployed (or under employed) living at home with mommy and daddy with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans not paid off.

lobo91 wrote:
@ Mike C.:
If I had to guess, I’d suspect that they’re going to use Feinstein’s bill as a starting point, and then “compromise” by reinstating what we had from ’94-2004.
It’s not like we actually have an opposition party anymore.
You’re quite the optimist.

people have to take their bodies, hearts, and souls somewhere else…the GOP needs to go in only two directions…the economy and national security and both are in the tank right now…anything else is a burden, and none of their business…the GOP was not defeated, it committed suicide with these obtuse issues

people have to take their bodies, hearts, and souls somewhere else…the GOP needs to go in only two directions…the economy and national security and both are in the tank right now…anything else is a burden, and none of their business…the GOP was not defeated, it committed suicide with these obtuse issues

@ Speranza:
One good example of Republicans not fighting back was Romney playing the role of a punching bag to Obama for 3 months. They really ran some brutal ads and he never effectively responded.

Let’s just say if after 4 years of obama didn’t make you want to vote the man out of office and you totally ignored all his screw ups and everything he did…some ads on TV were not going to change your mind. Really. Obama seems to be above it all for some reason. Can’t blame low information voters either..because even with low information you would know a few of the things obama has done. No the American people didn’t care. How do you make them care? Some ads on TV aren’t going to do it.

@ Lily:
No the American people didn’t care. How do you make them care? Some ads on TV aren’t going to do it.
They get their information from Honey Boo Boo, Scarlett Johanson, and Sandra Fluke.
No amount of ads will counter that.

You have to fight and Romney did not expose all of Obama’s failings. Romney could have nailed Obama on his intervention in Libya and support Islamists in Syria. But Romney also supported Libya and the terrorists ion Syria. That is one example.

lobo91 wrote:
Good news for bears and bobcats in CA: It’s illegal for dogs to chase them, as of yesterday.
Glad they’re working on important stuff…
Excatly how do you do that? They actually passed a law concerning that yesterday? Really? This is an issue that is important? I swear stupidity is at a all time high right now in our country.

traditionally dogs are used to hunt and run down bears…I oppose that, so this is a good law for me…seeing a truck load of Redbone hounds out to find a bear is terrifying

@ Lily:
Excatly how do you do that? They actually passed a law concerning that yesterday? Really? This is an issue that is important? I swear stupidity is at a all time high right now in our country.
They passed it in September. It went into effect yesterday.
I guess they needed the 3 months to teach the dogs about it.

I assume it’s a hunting law, but I have no knowledge of CA rules and regs etc…but hunting bears with dogs is really disgusting…it’s a Tenn thing

Lily wrote:
lobo91 wrote:
Good news for bears and bobcats in CA: It’s illegal for dogs to chase them, as of yesterday.
Glad they’re working on important stuff…
Excatly how do you do that? They actually passed a law concerning that yesterday? Really? This is an issue that is important? I swear stupidity is at a all time high right now in our country.
traditionally dogs are used to hunt and run down bears…I oppose that, so this is a good law for me…seeing a truck load of Redbone hounds out to find a bear is terrifying

Really? Why not make it against the law to hunt bears? Instead of dogs chasing bears? Doesn’t make sense. You and I have a different sense of *terrifying* to be honest.

lobo91 wrote:
@ Lily:
Excatly how do you do that? They actually passed a law concerning that yesterday? Really? This is an issue that is important? I swear stupidity is at a all time high right now in our country.
They passed it in September. It went into effect yesterday.
I guess they needed the 3 months to teach the dogs about it.
I assume it’s a hunting law, but I have no knowledge of CA rules and regs etc…but hunting bears with dogs is really disgusting…it’s a Tenn thing

in the mid South, Redbone and Bluetick hounds are raised to hunt bears…the dogs are very communal, smart and exceptionally aggressive…they live to run and howl and follow the scent, and they are HUGE…bears hear them coming and eventually have to climb a tree in hopes to stay alive…once treed with 8 baying hounds below, the hunters just walk up, shoot the bear, and watch it crash through the limbs to the ground…it’s ugly, it’s unfair, and it’s a solid tradition in some places…if CA decides this is uncool, I agree

It may take an extremely strong individual working totally outside all of the party systems to get this ship righted.

The real root problem may very well be that the two party evil money cult(h/t TFK — TPEMC for short)or any political party for that matter has indoctrinated thinking of all matters as pitting groups against groups with little regard to the Constitution, which, after all, is a document that is supposed to be concerned with the rights and responsibilities of the individual citizens governing themselves.

… and I am also in the running for the run on sentence of the year competition.

heysoos wrote:
Lily wrote:
lobo91 wrote:
Good news for bears and bobcats in CA: It’s illegal for dogs to chase them, as of yesterday.
Glad they’re working on important stuff…
Excatly how do you do that? They actually passed a law concerning that yesterday? Really? This is an issue that is important? I swear stupidity is at a all time high right now in our country.
traditionally dogs are used to hunt and run down bears…I oppose that, so this is a good law for me…seeing a truck load of Redbone hounds out to find a bear is terrifying
Really? Why not make it against the law to hunt bears? Instead of dogs chasing bears? Doesn’t make sense. You and I have a different sense of *terrifying* to be honest.

@ heysoos:
My guess is that it’s a solution without a problem, at least in CA.
But it sounds good to the animal rights crowd.

bears need to be culled depending on habitat, intrusiveness etc, but using hounds is pure sport and I don’t like it…I’ve killed plenty of animals and yet, to me this baiting and dog thing is ugly to me

All well and good heysoos but if I am a big a-hole with my own land and I want to act like an a-hole, why should we spend government time and resources to prosecute me when my neighbors could just get together and put up big signs saying I’m an a-hole for hunting like that?

This big government thing has a way of growing with little laws that make us feel good about ourselves.

@ heysoos:
All well and good heysoos but if I am a big a-hole with my own land and I want to act like an a-hole, why should we spend government time and resources to prosecute me when my neighbors could just get together and put up big signs saying I’m an a-hole for hunting like that?
This big government thing has a way of growing with little laws that make us feel good about ourselves.

it’s part of resource management….hunting game is big dollars, I’m not against hunting

@ heysoos:
I really don’t care …just outlaw hunting bears if that is what you want.

outlawing bear hunting has nothing to do with it…they have to hunted to ensure healthy, sustainable numbers…it’s the method I disagree with…you don’t care, that’s fine, I do…I’m not into animal cruelty

Oh for heavens sake. I’m not into animal cruelty..you have blown this up into something it isn’t. But out of the things that matter in the world using hunting dogs is not on my oh I’m really concerned list. I think people are more important. I don’t dislike or hate animals or like them being treated cruelly. But there are issues out there that are more pressing in my opinion.

@ heysoos:
Oh for heavens sake. I’m not into animal cruelty..you have blown this up into something it isn’t. But out of the things that matter in the world using hunting dogs is not on my oh I’m really concerned list. I think people are more important. I don’t dislike or hate animals or like them being treated cruelly. But there are issues out there that are more pressing in my opinion.

and here I thought I was enlightening you with regards to something you don’t seem to know much about….I won’t make that mistake again

unclassifiable wrote:
@ heysoos:
Whose resource?
There’s the rub.
hunting game is a resource for the state…it costs big buck to kill a bear, and I oppose luring them into a certain area then sic dogs on them

OK so here is how I think that happens. Person A is an a-hole. Kills bears with dogs and uses Napalm to boot. Person B wants to hunt just one cotton picking bear a year (hell maybe one in his lifetime — I don’t know – I hunt and I have no understanding why the hell you would want to hunt something that if you had choice between it or beef or chicken you choose beef or chicken — but I digress a bunch)…

Anyway rather than Person B talking this over with person A (this dog and Napalm thing is really screwing up my bear hunting prospects old boy) or taking him to civil court (your honor, he’s got bears taking buses to Coushatta it’s so damn bad) he goes to his state legiscritter and tries to get a (and here is the road to hell part) LAW to regulate bear hunting on EVERYONE’s land.

And you know it won’t end there because that legiscritter has got relatives and that LAW is not going to enforce itself so…

Lily wrote:
@ heysoos:
Oh for heavens sake. I’m not into animal cruelty..you have blown this up into something it isn’t. But out of the things that matter in the world using hunting dogs is not on my oh I’m really concerned list. I think people are more important. I don’t dislike or hate animals or like them being treated cruelly. But there are issues out there that are more pressing in my opinion.
and here I thought I was enlightening you with regards to something you don’t seem to know much about….I won’t make that mistake again

You always talk so sweet to me now don’t you? You weren’t trying to enlighten me.

heysoos wrote:
Lily wrote:
@ heysoos:
Oh for heavens sake. I’m not into animal cruelty..you have blown this up into something it isn’t. But out of the things that matter in the world using hunting dogs is not on my oh I’m really concerned list. I think people are more important. I don’t dislike or hate animals or like them being treated cruelly. But there are issues out there that are more pressing in my opinion.
and here I thought I was enlightening you with regards to something you don’t seem to know much about….I won’t make that mistake again
You always talk so sweet to me now don’t you? You weren’t trying to enlighten me.

you are wrong…I don’t have any malice, I like a good vibe and try to contribute with what I think I know…my ego is not in doubt

I don’t hunt any more, so I’m mostly out of this one, but personally I don’t care much for hunting bear with dogs, or deer over bait, etc. I always had a sort of Issac Walton view of these things. To Issac, the objective was not to catch fish – that was a bonus. The objective was to go fishing. Now if you’re hunting/fishing because you and your family aren’t going to have any proteine in your diet if you’re not successful, that’s different. But other than that, I don’t see a lot of sport in some common practices these days.

I don’t hunt any more, so I’m mostly out of this one, but personally I don’t care much for hunting bear with dogs, or deer over bait, etc. I always had a sort of Issac Walton view of these things. To Issac, the objective was not to catch fish — that was a bonus. The objective was to go fishing. Now if you’re hunting/fishing because you and your family aren’t going to have any proteine in your diet if you’re not successful, that’s different. But other than that, I don’t see a lot of sport in some common practices these days.

@ Mike C.:
If they’re going to outlaw any sort of bear hunting, it should be the kind they do in Russia, where they shoot hibernating bears in their dens.
Fortunately, nobody does that here.

bears are big game, living alone, isolated over large areas, all that…nobody has the patience or the skills to hunt them, actually stalk them for a perfect shot…so lure them to you and kill them…the question is why? and I mostly don’t like the answers….bears are not herd animals so the ethics of hunting them is a bit different in my mind…shooting a hibernating bear is simply barbaric

There’s a quite restricted season here and in WV, but I never had any real interest in it anyway. I’ve only seen one in the wild once, and that was at a distance while out on a well. So long as they are properly managed and the season is only to “trim the herd” so to speak, I have nothing particularly against it. I’m just not interested in doing it myself. The only animal I’ve wanted to kill in recent years is the damned cat.

I was way up around Lake Nipigon Ontario in small village in the remote boonies…we were having breakfast with a group of bear hunters from TN….rifles….these guys were all gloomy because they’d payed huge money to go up there to kill bears, but the afternoon before one of them took a shot and only wounded the bear…they were used to hunting with dogs…anyway the head guy says they have two days to find that bear and all of them were out to do the right thing…it was cold and wet and miserable but they had 48 hours to find that bear and they were going to put everything into it until time and daylight ran out…bunch of hillbillies and real good sportsmen, taking reponsibility

JUst ask her how much her AWB reduced crime (it didn’t) and how much crime increased when that one expired (it didn’t.) IIRC, there was supposed to be blood running in the streets when it expired in 2004. Even over at Daily Kos, there was a group posting stuff like “Day 12 – no blood in the streets yet.”

That may be but the fact remains that Boehner may have had good reason(s) for not putting Sandy up for a vote but he should have taken Christie’s phone call and explained his position to the NY delegation.

Regardless of what Trigg Romney said about his dad, I think it was obvious that Romney wanted to be president. He put up million and millions of his own money and sacrificed an incredible amount of time energy and serious emotion in the campaign. He went up against a very popular presicent that had the backing of all of Hollywood, all of the media and all of the international co,,umity, as well as all of the welfare crowd and all of the minorities. And he made a pretty good showing. He prepared and studied and sacrificed like none of us here on this board probably ever has. He knew what he was getting in for and he went for it anyway.

There is no perfect candidate, but if he had won, the fight over the fiscal cliff would’ve been a lot different and our economy would be have an entirely different projection than it has now. The American engine is in real trouble and needs to be totally rebuilt. Romney could’ve accomplished a lot of that and at least dealyed much of the impending doom and averted some of it altogether.

All of this woulda shoulda coulda about his campaign is bullshit. He went up against an annointed Santa Claus and still made a damn good showing. He did NOT throw the election and he was in it to win. the Democrats cheated, lied and stole. That is how Obama won. Not on merit, ideals or qualifications, but by promising shit that wasn’t his to people that didn’t earn it or deserve it.

There’s no way in hell they should pass a $60 billion “emergency” bill that has $30 billion worth of unrelated pork in it with no debate.

All the whining by Christie and Schumer is nothing but posturing. Whether that bill is passed today or next week will have absolutely no effect on what people receive. All it does is replace money FEMA is already spending.